The French are peculiar: officially

We find France’s frivolous side at its seven weirdest festivals

Tragic news: the World Pig Squealing Championships are no more. At the event,
in Trie-sur-Baïse, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, competitors were called on to
imitate the noises made by pigs at various stages of their lives, right up
to slaughter. There’s speculation that the domination of many-times world
champ Noël Jamet was discouraging entrants — you can see the 47-year-old
truck driver’s performance online and in our tablet edition, and judge for
yourself.

France still retains a decent number of other fêtes of heartening
eccentricity, however, confirming, against much available evidence, that the
French do have a frolicsome sense of fun.

Bed racing, Brittany
At the Fête de l’Insolite (“Festival of the Unlikely”), in Mahalon, beds,
stripped down to their essentials, roar along a circuit around the village
church. Teams of three — two pushing, one on board — compete to challenge
the world record of 1 min 16 sec. The event also includes